Far and away the most common place for people to start developing NativeScript apps is with the NativeScript CLI. It just makes sense—NativeScript is completely free, open source, and provides everything you need out of the box to create truly native cross-platform apps with JavaScript.

However, we regularly hear from many of these same people that they want to take a project started with the NativeScript CLI and move it to Telerik AppBuilder (part of Telerik Platform). Why? Well, with AppBuilder you get access to:

Cloud builds (no need for a Mac and no need to manage SDKs).

App store deployment.

Icon and splash screen creation.

Plugins management.

Configuration/settings management.

...the list goes on and on. So clearly there is value in moving a project from the NativeScript CLI to AppBuilder, but how do you do it? That's what this guide is all about.

Migrating Project From NativeScript CLI

If you have an existing NativeScript project created with the NativeScript CLI, let's go through the steps to move this project to AppBuilder.

Note that these instructions work equally well on Mac and Windows!

Locate your NativeScript project in your file system and compress/zip the app directory: